The basic principles of the local school system date back to the time of Maria Theresa, and the last major update is more than a hundred years old. What is the situation today? What do students and teachers say? A look into the schools.
4th grade middle school in Vienna. A few weeks after the start of the new school year, 20 students are sitting in their class and they are asked the question: How can you learn well? “We really have a lot of homework and hardly have any time for other things,” says one girl. “German exercises in eighth period, I can hardly concentrate,” groans her classmate. “Math, we don’t need that,” interjects another. A short discussion ensues. Output: Yes, yes, the kids want to learn some basics. “You need percentage calculations,” warns one person. “I actually want to learn how to read a contract,” says another. “I actually want respect,” explains another, “and to help shape the content.”
Of course, the young people know very little about educational policy discussions or the dispute over whether all 10 to 14 year olds should go to school together. But they already have a keen sense that things aren’t quite right in Austria’s schools. Perhaps nothing will change in the school system after the next election and the one after that. Can these loose ideas such as more exciting content, more participation or more respect actually be implemented in the current system?
No time
If you listen to the teachers, it’s rather difficult. “There are simply too many students per class,” says Daniela, “there is also not enough support from parents, they have little time. This stress is then passed on to the children.” Her colleague Sabine adds that a lot more advice, social work and psychology are simply needed. Why is that? “I’ll put it this way: 30 years ago I had a lot of children in the middle, on average,” illustrates Daniela, “so you could offer something to one, two or three who were very bright. And also the two or three who are a little more difficult.” This center is much smaller these days, and the backpacks that the children bring with them are varied.
To put it bluntly, there are boys and girls in the same class who will later go to university, as well as those who may have only been in Austria for a short time and therefore can hardly read and write. And of course everything in between, in various degrees. But the problems are not just due to migration movements, it just shows how different performance levels are today. Daniela can look back on several decades of experience and says: “Many years ago, when it came to mental arithmetic, it became difficult with the 8 series. Today the children sometimes stop at three times four.”
Respect and trust
“There is something inside every child,” says Sabine. An important principle. Her school has many different competitions and events, from technology to music to sports. “Someone wins a running event who otherwise has a very difficult time learning,” she says. “He is then brought onto the big stage and beams. That’s great.” But Sabine and Daniela also know other times.
“The standing of teachers in society is not high either,” complains Daniela. Everyone was at school, everyone wants to have a say. However, there is hardly any public understanding of what teachers do. The younger the children are, the more likely it is to believe that pedagogy is just a bit of play.
If the line isn’t good, it becomes even more difficult. Until a few years ago, her school in Vienna-Favoriten was exactly what is clichéd to be a “hot spot school”. The police, several people on site confirmed, had been there almost every day until recently. Physical violence and the discovery of weapons such as knives included. “The old management didn’t give us much freedom either,” says Sabine, “That doesn’t motivate us and you could feel the bad mood and one thing led to another.” It’s clear: the teachers also want to be respected, from all sides .
Convince and inspire with quality
Now things are going much better. Hannelore has been responsible as director for some time now. She manages hundreds of students and dozens of teachers. There are musicals, sports competitions, school weeks, funding, technical equipment, additional offers, and a diverse team of teachers. The police come maybe once a year. The teachers see a huge difference compared to before. “We try out a lot here,” she explains as she leans back in her director’s chair. “Of course the children have to feel comfortable, but the children also have a sense of quality and demand it. We have to offer them quality at all levels.” This is ensured not only by the management itself, but also by “middle management”.
“Something is enacted and only then do you think about how it can actually be implemented”
She couldn’t organize all of this alone. “Middle management” is organized into teams. Some teachers organize the musical. Still others the sport. The director trusts her teaching staff. A simple trick that, with a lot of communication, leads to good results. “I’m sometimes surprised at what happens in my house,” explains Hannelore. By the way, listing everything else that happens and works would go beyond the scope here.
Little comes from above
You don’t make it easy for her. Because politically there are always new ideas, a new name on the door sign here, a new test there. “It would be nice if we didn’t have to have any new requirements or tests imposed on us for a few years,” says Hannelore, when asked about short-term improvements. Or that you at least think about it. “Something is enacted and only then do we think about how it can be implemented,” she says angrily.
“Children have a right to education,” she clarifies. The key to this is appreciation and communication at all levels. It works in her district. School quality management – it used to be called school supervision – provides support on site and the political district representation is often there: “The children remember that when politics is there. They may not know exactly who the man in the suit is, but they feel the appreciation.” But isn’t all of this only relevant because it was a hotspot school?
More trust
“All children have to bear certain peeing costs,” explains Peter König. He is director of the practical and private school at the Catholic University of Education in Vienna-Strebersdorf. As such, he is very close to the development and research of educational topics. And he also has a different clientele in the private school than Hannelore in Vienna 10. He basically confirms everything that the children, teachers and the director say. “We should train the children to be digitalization experts, to be good presenters,” he says. “The aim is to strengthen their social skills, communication and other skills and work techniques.”
The schools have been given many tasks that clubs, parishes and grandparents used to do: “One expects that this will be covered in parallel with lessons.” Mind you: This is the certificate of a director in a private school. Different conditions, similar problems. Society demands a lot from children and educators, no matter where.
Let work
This also affects the trust and appreciation towards the teaching staff. “You have to trust schools and teaching teams more,” says König, “they want to make the best of the current situation. But they constantly have to justify themselves through tests, decrees, statements, protocols and the like. There is a mistrust that takes away motivation.”
The curriculum would allow for a lot of things anyway. He likes the desire to go through a contract and integrate it into German, mathematics and economics lessons. “But there is a lack of time because you then have to do tests again,” he complains. And because it is difficult for them to inquire about the understanding of democracy or adaptability (or resilience), it is better to chase after content that can be inquired about. You can do the row of eight or not. How do you measure the joy of learning? His solution: “What we need in school is more trust, autonomy and time.”
What is good teaching?
Hierarchical thinking radiates downwards, concludes König. Politicians are constantly stressing the education directorates with new requirements, and in the worst case scenario, the schools and the directorates then pass on the pressure to the teachers, who then stand in front of children who actually don’t want to do much other than learn the things they want to do respectfully really need in life.
He could imagine a fifth year of compulsory school to accommodate all of these topics. In many places, there is a demand for a common school for 6 to 14-year-olds so that children at the age of ten are not divided into “maybe studying” and “going to college”. That seems very far away; the political majorities are currently not allowing it. Whether they will change in the next elections is unclear. This all comes too late for the 4th grade anyway, perhaps even for the teachers. Until then, you could bring to everyone who is there what one of the fourth graders said: “Actually, I want respect.”
2023-11-08 15:42:54
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